Information on incidental mortality of seabirds and other protected species in the US West Coast pelagic longline fishery

Although the IATTC does not have an established observer program in its longline fisheries, one does exist for a US-based pelagic longline fishery for tuna and swordfish. These vessels are subject to pertinent US regulations as well as under the purview of IATTC. In response to a CCAMLR query in 2002, IATTC informed CCAMLR of this US observer program. Information about seabird bycatch observed in the US West Coast pelagic longline fishery was reported by the US in WG-FSA-02/39. Per a standing request from CCAMLR for information on incidental seabird mortality in fisheries adjacent to the Convention Area, information is provided about the US West Coast pelagic longline fishery.
Pelagic longline vessels operating in the North Central-Eastern Pacific targeting broadbill swordfish (Xiphias gladius) and tuna (Thunnus spp.) inadvertently hook and kill black-footed (Phoebastria nigripes) and Laysan albatrosses (P. immutabilis) that nest in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. The US-based pelagic longline fishery does not interact with albatross or petrel species that breed in the CCAMLR Convention Area. Although procellarids demonstrate broad and far-ranging foraging distributions, it is doubtful that Southern Hemisphere albatrosses and petrels forage this far north.